J.J. Watt’s response to a question about whether or not this week is the worst for starters says a lot about the reigning NFL defensive player of the year.

Hardly any starters play in Week 4 pre-season games, and that just makes the long wait for the regular season seem longer.

“It is a difficult week -- but for a different reason,” the Houston Texans defensive end said Tuesday afternoon.

“It’s because this is the big week for player cuts. And any time you see guys who have put so much heart and effort into this game -- I mean, this is their dream, this is everybody’s dream -- and to see some guys get cut, it’s always frustrating. You build relationships, but for some this is the end of the line.”

Watt, 24, has played only two years in the NFL . Yet since early last season he has been almost everybody’s pick as the top defender in the game. The 6-foot-5, 290-pounder disrupts plays like no other.

Despite a significant left-elbow injury, Watt led the league with 20.5 sacks and 23.5 tackles-for-loss. He also swatted down 16 passes while no other defensive lineman had more than nine.

Watt explained how and why he intends to get even better in 2013:

I read that you plan to wear an elbow brace again this year. Explain what the injury is, and how it hampers your play.

“It’s an old injury. Last year in training camp I dislocated my elbow and tore the ligaments in there, so I had to wear the brace all of last year. This year I just want to be really smart with it. Once you dislocate your elbow once, it’s more likely to happen a second time. So the brace is just a precaution to make sure my elbow is safe and secure, and I have that peace of mind.”

When I interviewed you last October you told me no one would believe the statistical goals you’d set for yourself last season, and you weren’t divulging them. But you also told me you’d share what those goals were after the season. What were they?

“I actually had intentions of letting you see them, but I couldn’t find them at the end of the season! I think it was 17 sacks, 20 tackles-for-loss … and defensive player of the year was on there. Obviously, Super Bowl was No. 1. It’s always No. 1. But definitely the goals were extremely high.”

Do you have even higher statistical goals this year?

“Absolutely. Every time I step on the football field I expect more from myself. I have no interest in doing the exact same thing I did last year, because that would mean that I stayed the same, and I’m always trying to get better. I’m a year older and have a little more experience.”

Is there one particular facet of your game you are trying to improve the most?

“I wouldn’t say there’s one thing. Every area of my game I want to get a little bit better in. Whether it’s the run game, the pass game, or it’s knocking down balls. If I was only focusing on one thing, I’d be doing an injustice to my entire game.”

Former star defensive lineman Chris Doleman of Minnesota was quoted today as saying he isn’t impressed with today’s NFL defensive linemen. He singled out you as one who is good, but that you can be “a lot better.” What do you make of that?

“I’m worried only about my opinion. Believe me, I can be better. But the only person I answer to is myself. Every single night before I go to bed, I have to be able to look myself in the mirror and say that I did everything I could that day to get better. That’s the most important thing to me. I will always be my harshest critic. So I agree with him. I definitely can get better.”

J.J. WATT ON SKATES

Last fall J.J. Watt told us about his unrequited love of hockey and how it gutted him as a teen in Wisconsin when he physically outgrew the game.

“Now that the season’s here I can tell you, because in the off-season I didn’t want to tell anybody about it, because I’m not doing it anymore.

“But in the off-season I did. I had a rink where I had it cleared out all to myself, and it was just me and the guy that opened it. Nobody else was allowed in. And I would go skate by myself on a rink, and just shoot by myself into an empty net.”

Really? And how’s your slapshot?

“Oh, I’ve got a nice slapshot. I love hockey. I love the game, I love the balance. I love the different muscles that you have to use on the ice. So it was a great second workout for me, and it was also just a lot of fun to get back on the ice.”

Watt told QMI Agency last year that hockey remains his favourite sport, and that “I’ll definitely be in an old-man league when I’m done playing football.”